3 Dream trade deadline targets for Pistons (and what they'd cost)
The Detroit Pistons have been active in talks as the NBA trade deadline approaches, but so far they've remained in the preliminary stage.
The Pistons don't likely have the assets to make the kind of splash they need, and even though they will have oodles of cap space again, there may not be anyone to spend it on in free agency.
It's far more likely that the Pistons make moves around the fringes, try some addition by subtraction (Killian Hayes anyone?) and maybe trade for someone else's problem, as has been rumored with Zach LaVine.
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So don't expect a game-changing name to come at the deadline, though we can dare to dream. In those dream scenarios, who would be the best player for the Detroit Pistons? I picked three guys who could be available at some point due to the circumstances surrounding their teams.
Though all are exceptional long shots for the Pistons (as in, it's not happening), they represent the types of players who would fit well in Detroit.
Dream trade deadline targets for the Detroit Pistons
Mikal Bridges
Cost: At least four first-round picks/swaps and a young player
The Nets are 19-27 and have only won three of their last 10 games, so there are some rumblings that they might make Mikal Bridges available.
Bridges would be perfect with Cade Cunningham as he is a very good defender and can shoot the 3-ball, which you can't say about Jaden Ivey. Bridges and Ausar Thompson would be a formidable defensive pairing and Bridges could slot in as the two-guard or small forward depending on the situation.
For their part, the Nets have said Bridges is untouchable and that they hope to build around him, but they also need to recoup draft picks and their current record doesn't portend a team that is going to contend anytime soon.
In a recent trade article, ESPN's Bobby Marks cooked up a deal that had the Nets getting FIVE first-round picks and a young player for Bridges. If that is the cost, the Pistons aren't even in the discussion, hell, they aren't even in the building where the discussion will happen, as they don't have excess picks to move.
The only way this happens is if the Pistons get the number one pick in the 2024 draft and the Nets value that enough to take Ivey, two picks and a bunch of swaps on draft day.
This is why he's a dream.